Which car is more desirable?

The $8 sounds in the area for the price here too! I know it is higher than that in the US though. Road tax is getting really confusing these days as they keep changing the rates. My last hybrid was £10 a year but my current one was around £140. There is a move with incentives but they don't push them too hard as, if everyone made the move, the government would lose too much in taxes so they have started to up them even for lesser polluting vehicles.

There is also the congestion charges they are bringing in in various places. In effect some of the burden of revenue generation is being delegated to councils so the government's problems are less but it makes actual calculation of costs, particularly for some people in the bigger cities, ever more complex. The government, in doing, tend to reduce their budget funding for the councils.

As an aside from this I have seen an online discussion with some well qualified engineers, some of who have given strong pointers that the introduction of electric vehicles is totally impractical as the number of charging points and electrical capacity and facilities of the system will be totally inadequate in the timescale specified. Another issue, not one that I remember the details of, is there is already evidence of theft of charging cables with the more remote systems. There is obviously more that may be relevant here. Other technical issues were raised but they are maybe not be so relevant at the moment.

Dont forget US gallons are smaller than UK ones..

I didn't know that. 

I just paid $2.65/gallon for regular.

In Colorado, our annual registration fees include an ownership tax based on the vehicle's value. The vehicle is depreciated over 10 years, with the minimum ownership tax at $3.00. We also have road and bridge fees. Hubby's car is a 2007 Mazda, which he purchased used, and he has special plates for which he pays a little bit extra every year (ham radio call sign). It cost $70.22 to renew the registration for his car this year. Mine is a 2017 Toyota, which I purchased new. It cost me $1023.15 to register it in 2017. This year, it was $234.97.

We need to rethink how we fund road maintenance. Gasoline taxes usually fund road maintenance, and it used to be the fairest way. Larger vehicle/more driving = more wear and tear  = more gas purchased = higher share of gasoline taxes. Now, with normal improvements in fuel efficiency, hybrids and electric cars, we're not seeing as much money in the coffers to pay for road maintenance. Gas taxes are now a regressive tax, since it seems to affect lower income families more.

Oops! I meant "$3.65.

My registration fees are ranging from $285/year to over $450/yr.

We have annual inspections, however, it has been found that remarkably few accidents are caused by car problems.

I've never heard of anything that high. Ouch!!!

If you own one of those that a big OUCH!!!

How can people oin a limited income afford cost like that?

I have no doubt that petrol cars will be phased out but as earlier stated the world supply of Lithium is limited the batteries for electric cars dont last forever.  We wont all be able to have a car and besides how are they going to produce enough energy for all the electric cars? Or will we all have a windmill in the back garden?

I can see that....

It sounds very optomistic to me. Don't forget that in some countries people run cars like for ever. Cuba is an obvious example.

Our area was built in the 1920s and 30s the couple of years ago the council put in about 6 or 8 electric charging points for the whole area there are about 2000 houses in this area.
The grid near to the local charging points overheated and electricity substation burnt down, as a result we had no electric for nearly a week and now they are having to renew the cable Street by Street.

Somehow I can't see the entire world renewing it's electricity grid in the next 30 years as well as investing in all the electric cars and putting in charging points.